It's Always Been
by SopranoZone
Summary: Entries for the LJ community, Its always been monthly challenge
1. In Need of a Vacation

**January 2010 - _In need of a Vacation_**

by _Sopranozone_

* * *

Tony had an infuriatingly good knack for earning her forgiveness when he didnt really earn it. The Venitian blown glass fish he'd set on the table in front her her was evidence of his most recent attempt.

"I'm not talking to you, Tony."

She continues to stare steadfastly at her computer screen, ignoring both the fish and the man trying to get her attention from the other side of the couch.

"Come on, Potts. It wasn't that big deal-"

She spares him a scathing look, and he has the good sense to look properly chastised.

"-Okay, yeah, maybe it was, but its not like I do it on purpose-"

"Heaven forbid if you ever did it on purpose."

"You know I love you too much to do that to you, Potts. Besides, you'd kill me. I'm not stupid."

She makes a small noise in the back of her throat, but continues her work. They sit in a tense silence for several minutes.

"Pepper, I just think its time for us to take some time off."

He's finally shifted back to a more serious tone, at which point she decides its time to discuss. She looks up from her computer to meet his eyes.

"I understand that Tony, but now is not the time-we're JUST getting this mess with the Expo cleaned up, not to mention the whole other mess with Hammer Industries."

He lets out a frustrated sigh, head flopping back against the back of the couch.

"But when WILL be the time? I mean, seriously, we haven't been on a vacation since Venice, and that was more than two years ago." He reaches to rub his eyes. "God, Cipriani was great...That whole trip was." He sighs again, and leans forward, elbows on his knees as he continues.

"I just...I'll level with you, I'm...I'm at my burn out, Pepper." She pauses at the raw honesty in his tone. "And I get that most of this crap going on is my fault, but..." He gesticulates, trying to find words. He finally just shrugs. "I just need to recharge, for lack of better term."

She sighs, looking back to her screen and pulling up his calendar.

"I'll book it. Where do you wanna go?"

A sincere grin breaks across his face, and he leans over and plants a spontaneous kiss on her lips.

"You're an angel, Pepper. And I wanna go wherever you wanna go. Every time I've picked the destination its ended in disaster."

"You do have a knack for that..." She says wryly, "Maybe we can try Monaco again in a few years, maybe WITHOUT you driving."

She watches as he excitedly gets to his feet, walking towards the workshop stairs. She calls after him.

"Tony? Next time, just...don't cancel the entire calendar. Just...let me handle that."

"Sure thing, Potts. But since it's already clear, lets just go now. Pick somewhere fun!" He calls back to her, as he disappears down the stairs. She shakes her head, eyes landing on the blown glass fish on the table before pulling up the information for Hotel Cipriani.


	2. Valentines Day

**Its Always Been**

_**Valentine's Day**_

* * *

Pepper decided early in her life that Valentines was a pointless holiday. This revelation probably occurred sometime in elementary school when Jason Michaelson told her he would be her Valentine, then proceeded to to kiss her best friend Gillian the next day on the playground. Years to follow would prove that chalky hearts, cupid stickers and cliché "Beeee My Valentine," cards did not a romantic holiday make.

However, despite her qualms with the holiday, it was always one of her favorites to celebrate with Tony Stark. Of course there was the mandatory flowers and jewels for the arm-candy of the weekend (usually something gaudy and thoughtless). Playboy Tony knew how to work the ladies. But Valentine's also brought out a part of him that she rarely saw.

There was always an arrangement of roses placed on his mother's grave. And usually there was a generous donation to one of his mother's favorite charities around February 14th. She never commented on it to him directly, but to herself, she used it as a reminder that under the careless playboy billionaire there was a man with a kind heart, even if he rarely showed it.

-

It was her second year working for him when he got her a gift for Valentine's day. She suspected it was, in part, due to a disagreement over his schedule; a sort-of apology. But the bouquet of roses that appeared on her desk in a Waterford vase would become an annual tradition. Sometimes there was the addition of chocolates, or Jimmy Choos. Ever year included an off-handed, "Happy Valentine's, Potts," as she headed out of the workshop at the end of the day.

-

Four weeks. She hadn't expected it to take this long.

Countless calls, press conferences, news reports and military interviews. Things were just starting to settle, and in the back of her mind, she knew it was because people were giving up. The world did not stop, even for Tony Stark.

The floral agency called late in the afternoon. Did the arrangements he'd paid for in advance need to be delievered tomorrow, as he would not be there to pick them up? The next day, Pepper drove to get them, placing one arrangement in her backseat, before carefully placing the other in the front and making her way to the grave site.

As Pepper sat on the bench across from the two headstones with the rose bouquet between them, she let out a shaky sigh, admitting to herself what she'd avoided acknowledging for a week now.

He's not here for Valentine's Day.


End file.
